


A wolf, a bull and a baby

by Lianria



Series: Thank you for your Service [8]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Birth, Boys Are Dumb, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 14:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21078173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lianria/pseuds/Lianria
Summary: Arya's pregnancy and delivery





	A wolf, a bull and a baby

**Author's Note:**

> This really shouldn't have taken me this long to get out, I've just had minimal motivation for this and my chaptered fic but my block is slowly wearing away.

Gendry was handling Arya's pregnancy just fine if you asked him. Sure he cleaned out every pharmacy he could find that carried those little citrus drop things that made her nausea ease up during her first trimester. Then ordered more online, just in case. She didn’t really have any certain foods or smells that set her off, just a general all encompassing nausea. It came in handy when trying to figure out what to eat, she thought of a food and either her mouth watered or she would throw up. Made for easy decision making. Now if only she would just stay where he put her.

Arya however would disagree, Gendry was hovering. He got stressed when Arya would do so much as vacuum, or lift a small bag of groceries. Arya almost had to sneak out to go to the gym, despite both her Obstetrician and Talisa telling him it was perfectly fine for Arya to continue a lighter work out. And don’t get her started on what he did to her coffee. Again the obstetrician gave her a set amount of caffeine that was safe for both her and the baby, and Gendry threw out all of their coffee and caffeinated tea. She very nearly killed him, but he just stared at her belly with those big blue eyes and Arya melted.

But he crossed the line when he tried to take away her ice cream. It was the middle of summer, and Arya had her very first true craving. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Arya had stopped on her way home and picked up a pint only to have Gendry flip out and throw it away, because raw cookie dough must be bad for the baby if it was bad for adults. Gendry walked out of the kitchen to the living room, secure in the knowledge that he was already being a good dad. Arya had very calmly stood up, picked up her purse and keys and walked out of the house. She turned off her phone.

Gendry went everywhere in town he could think of in a state of pure panic, only to eventually find Arya at her parents house surrounded by her sisters in law, Sansa, and Catelyn. All sitting on the couch eating the offending ice cream. Arya stared him down while she munched away at her treat while the ladies in her family explained to Gendry, at a rather loud volume, that Arya well knew what only the truly stupid came between a pregnant woman and her ice cream. From that day forward there was a fresh pint in the freezer at all times.

Gendry admitted he was no longer handling things well on the day of the first ultrasound. The rapid beat of the tiny heart made him truly melt, but it was the image on the screen that made everything terribly real for him. A teeny tiny little bean, with flippers. That wiggled every time he or Arya spoke. Gendry got a little stupid. Suddenly even the laundry was too strenuous for Arya to lift. He wanted her sitting down with her feet up at all times. Arya stared him down as she hefted a bag of dogfood over her shoulder and stormed in the house, slamming the door behind her for extra emphasis.

The next ultrasound heralded a new set of issues, the floaty bean no longer looked like a bean. Little fingers and toes drew Gendry to the screen like a moth to flame. His 'awwww' when the baby started sucking its thumb during the ultrasound made both the ultrasound tech and his wife burst into laughter. A few days after the ultrasound, Arya's hormones took a decidedly interesting turn and Gendry yet again was somewhat stupid. Arya was suddenly constantly aroused, but Gendry was convinced sex would hurt the baby, in spite of the articles Arya showed him. This led to Gendry being shoved out of the house and locked onto the porch with Mors and Nymeria, until Robb and Jon arrived to let him in while their wives calmed the furious pregnant woman. Theon had apparently tagged along for funsies. Robb and Jon refused to talk it through with Gendry, because this was their little sister and ew. Theon however had no such problem.

"So wait let me get this straight. Arya is randy like 24/7, and is essentially begging for it…. And you said no. Dude have you seen your wife? She's fucking hot as hell, and being knocked up has only made her assets more… defined. And she wants to have constant sex with you. I know she calls you stupid but come on man."

Gendry, being the jealous and easily angered -when it came to Arya- bull that he was, swung before he could think. Theon went flying over the back of their couch to land in a heap at Talisa's feet. She looked at the lump on the floor and then up to Gendry.

"Repeat after me. What is good for mommy is good for baby. I can promise you, being with Arya will in no way hurt the baby. If anything it will rock the little one to sleep and let Mommy relax a bit. Now go get your emergency chocolate and go apologize to Arya. She thinks your disgusted by her, so grovel. Next time, if you choose not to listen to her, for the sake of all of us just text me. And Theon. If you value your life you will never in anyway comment on Arya's anatomy during pregnancy ever again. Or I will tell Sansa."

Ygritte was helping Arya with a yoga stretch to help with her hip pain, and upon seeing Gendry enter bearing Arya's favorite chocolate bar, excused herself reminding her sister in law to keep up the stretching and exercise.

Arya looked at him and Gendry could see the tears in her eyes.

"I'm an idiot."

She sniffled and nodded as tears ran down her face. Gendry curled up around her and apologized over and over while Arya at her chocolate bar, once she was done he proceeded to show her just how sorry he really was. Gendry was much more at peace from that point in the pregnancy, thankfully Talisa didn’t comment on the numerous random and somewhat silly questions both Arya and Gendry would send her at all hours. She just smiled and answered them, while making note of which ones to hang on to for a laugh later on.

Gendry learned that Arya was very possessive of her belly once she started showing. A common statement being "If you didn’t help create what's in the bump, you don't touch the bump". She hated being seen as a walking incubator, with questions either being exclusively about the health of the babe or directed to the bump itself. He secretly felt that the babe was as private as its parents, because once movement could be both felt and seen, the babe was calm unless it was just the pair of them. Then he was rewarded with the imprints of little feet and punches against his hands, it was yet another part of the pregnancy that was reserved only for them.

With the nearing of the due date, came the painting and outfitting of the nursery. Gendry asked Arya to be in charge of painting the nursery, he had an idea he thought she would love. She reluctantly agreed, and Gendry had hired Tom O'Sevens and Anguy Archer to take on his idea. Arya was forbidden from seeing what was being done. All she knew was that the ugly grey carpet was removed and a soft deep brown carpet was installed. She was given designs of infant furniture and told to pick the styles she wanted but that the finishes would be up to Gendry to make sure it all worked together. Three weeks later, and six weeks before Arya's due date, she was ushered into the nursery with Gendry's hands covering her eyes. She opened her eyes to a woodland paradise. Beautiful pine trees adorned the walls, forest animals frolicked around the trunks of the trees, a Stag and a She wolf appearing to either side of the dark mahogany crib and dresser. A stunning emerald green electric recliner sat next to one of the two windows covered in slate grey black out curtains, held back by a hook adorned with golden leaves. The ceiling was that of a blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds. Arya sat in the recliner and watched as Gendry closed the curtains and shut off the lights, all around the room fireflies appeared amongst the trees, and the celling became a starry sky filled with every constellation Arya could think of and with a small red comet streaking across the center. She had promptly burst into tears, it was perfect.

The pair of them took one look at their car seat and extra base, and immediately called Talisa for help installing them only to find that their truck was old enough not to have the steel bars in place for the base to safely attach to. The next day they were back, only with a bright shiny new green SUV for Arya and a Jeep for Gendry. The bases worked perfectly in both cars. The two then spent the next hour practicing getting the car seat in and out.

Once Arya was within a month of her due date, she and Gendry attended a birthing class put on by their local hospital and the local birthing centers. Arya had decided early on in her pregnancy what she wanted for her birth. She wanted to be in the hospital, she wanted the epidural, and she wanted a doula -more for Gendry's sake than for her- and she wanted only that doula and Gendry to be in the room with the required medical personnel, and her baby would be getting all the vaccines. She was well aware of the various, and more natural methods of birth, however Arya firmly believed the Gods had guided humans to develop those lovely little medical discoveries for a reason. She was unwilling to budge on this position and when Gendry asked questions, Arya sat him down with their laptop and started a playlist of birth videos.

"Your not the one pushing something the size of a watermelon out of an orifice normally the size of a ping pong ball. You are huge and I am decidedly not. This baby is already measuring large, I am not willing to risk either mine or the baby's health for 'crunchy mom' points. My baby, my call. "

At Gendry's confused look, Arya explained she was concerned about there being an issue during delivery and the possible need for a c-section as a last resort. Gendry was terrified at the thought of Arya being cut open and they asked Cat to stand in for him should that become a necessity. He knew he wouldn't be able to see her like that.

Arya was not surprised one bit when her due date came and went and baby made no effort what so ever to vacate the area. By week 41, still nothing and Arya was getting a bit frustrated. By 41 weeks and 5 days, Arya was done. They had followed every old wives tale that rumored to lead to labor and nothing. Not excessive pineapple, not walking, not sex nothing worked. Arya was miserable, Gendry was miserable, and the baby was happy in its warm little water balloon.

What did work eventually was Mors and Nymeria.

The two dogs loved to lay their heads on Arya's tummy, and seeing them nose at little feet seemed almost like a game to them. Finally Arya made an offhand comment that it would be far easier for the baby to play with the dogs once they were outside of her tummy. Nymeria and Mors cocked their heads and looked at each other before looking down at her belly. And barking. Each time a little foot would kick next to their snouts they moved and barked again. Finally at the top of her belly they let the little feet kick them as they woofed. And Arya's water broke.

It was slow going. The more painful the contraction, the more Arya stressed and the less progress was made. For several hours nothing changed, Arya was in pain and exhausted, and Gendry was sure he had at lease one broken bone in his hand. Eventually Arya's obstetrician gave the okay for her to have her epidural, hoping it would let her relax enough to get some rest. It did. Arya got a whopping five hours of blissful sleep while Gendry snored on the tiny cot along the wall. Until her nurse came in looking concerned, the baby was showing some signs of distress, but that could very well be nothing. They checked her dilation, only a 2, so they helped Arya move into some bizarre form of labor yoga which seemed to calm the baby down. Twenty minutes later they repeated the process. And again twenty minutes later. Gendry snored away though the entire thing. Finally after the fourth time, Arya's nurse called the OB to come in, but didn’t stop to check her dilation. The doctor arrived fifteen minutes later, in her house slippers and scrubs, and immediately checked Arya's dilation while looking over the baby's heart rhythm. Arya was not only completely dilated, but the baby was very close to crowning. A nurse shook Gendry awake and drug him up to hold Arya's leg, while the OB scrubbed frantically and another nurse got the bed up into the correct birthing position. They didn’t even have time to call any of the family. Gendry finally woke completely up as his wife started pushing and four pushes later, their baby girl was laying on her mother's chest grumbling at all of them. She rooted over to nurse for a moment before letting out a yawn and promptly going to sleep on her mama. Gendry stared in awe and gentry ran his finger over the soft black peach fuzz at the top of her little head, and down her arm to her tiny hand. Her little fingers immediately grasped onto his as her other hand grabbed a handful of Arya's breast.

They lifted the baby off of Arya to clean her up and Gendry looked torn until Arya gently shoved him after the baby while a nurse helped clean her up. Gendry gently carried the babe back to her mama for golden hour snuggles and ask the nurse to call up to Talisa's unit to see if she was on duty. She was and practically flew down to the labor ward to steal his phone and start the phone tree. Catelyn nearly ran Ned over in the parking lot trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible. Robb and Jon stopped and grabbed Arya's favorite breakfast foods, for both the little family and all of the nurses on the birth ward.

They all cooed over the baby once she was swaddled and safely ensconced in her daddy's arms, while Arya mourned the loss of her epidural and got to endure the time honored tradition of the first post natal bathroom trip. Where she promptly went into shock trying to stand up. Gendry gently handed the baby over to her beaming grandmother and rescued his wife from the bathroom. Once settled back in bed, Arya smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder as they watched their sleeping babe be passed from grandparent to grandparent at the arrival of Gendry's pseudo father Davos.

"What her name?"

"Yorena Robin Waters."


End file.
